


A Pirate's Treasure

by beltsquid



Category: Final Fantasy XII
Genre: Future Fic, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-07
Updated: 2011-05-07
Packaged: 2017-10-19 03:21:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/196306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beltsquid/pseuds/beltsquid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With age, Vaan has come to understand the real value of piracy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Pirate's Treasure

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wingeddserpent](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingeddserpent/gifts).



_Stepping out of the darkened corners of the undercity and into the glaring daylight above is almost blinding. He squints, and looks into the sky. He’s tired of living half a life in low spaces._

 _“I’m gonna be a sky pirate,” he says for the first time as though it is the most natural thing in the world. Reks rustles his hair condescendingly. But Vaan pays it no mind, as his thoughts are firmly in the clouds._

***

Vaan’s feet dangle above the water and he watches his fishing line bob uneventfully in the tide. Nothing is biting today. Balfonheim has changed in the years since he came here first—nowadays, it’s a respectable town, not a den for piracy. It’s not just Balfonheim that has changed, either, but all of Ivalice. The boom in exploration that followed the fall of the Occuria could not last forever. Now all the hidden places were known, their treasures collected and cataloged and on display somewhere. If asked, the average citizen would say that the golden days of sky piracy are long past. Vaan has never been good at listening to people, though.

The wooden pier beneath him rumbles faintly with approaching footsteps. “Hey! Old man!”

“Who’s old,” Vaan retorts, his eyes still fixated on the water. He’s only fifty. That’s not old … well, not for a Viera. He doesn’t turn to acknowledge the voice, but he can tell it belongs to a young man—probably the scrappy kid that has been eying him in the marketplace all week. Idly, he wonders if there’s a bounty on his head. Hopefully it’s for a respectable amount of gil.

“They say you’re a real sky pirate.”

“Maybe I am.” He tugs the line and finds no resistance. Still no fish today. Behind him, the unmistakable metallic click of a pistol being cocked rings in his ears.

“Then you’d better tell me where all your treasure is!”

Vaan laughs. “You’re wasting your time, boy. My treasures are the kind you can’t steal.” With well-practiced grace, Vaan gets to his feet and disarms the boy, tossing his gun into the ocean. Perhaps it will have more luck against the fish than his hook.

***

 _Forgiveness feels good. He’s lighter on his feet than he has been in years. Tagging along with a real sky pirate helps with that, of course, but now that he’s walking under open sky again and not carrying the weight of his brother’s vengeance with him, he feels like he wouldn’t need an airship to fly. Besides, it turns out that Basch is a pretty cool guy with the sort of strength he never knew he envied._

 _“Hey, Basch,” he says. “Can you show me how to use one of those big swords?”_

 _The knight chuckles. “If you’ve the strength for it when we next make camp.”_

 _“Wow, just like that?”_

 _Basch turns to him, the mirth fading from his face. “If we’re to continue on in this quest, you’ll need the skill to defend yourself in any situation. You’re resourceful enough, but I’ll not let you meet the same fate as your brother in any case.”_

 _Vaan nods and grips his dagger with pride and renewed purpose._

***

“How did you-- I don’t understand!” The boy sputters incredulously and rushes to the edge of the pier, as if staring after the ripples that his discarded firearm could somehow bring it back.

“Now that’s out of the way, I’ll tell you about my treasure. I’ve had riches pass through my hands often enough,” Vaan admits. “And when it does, it keeps me flying. But that’s not treasure, not really."

***

 _It’s good to see Ashe again. Penelo writes often, and is always the first to update him about what their friend--their queen--is up to, but it’s not the same as seeing her face-to-face. Sometimes the hunt board has requests from “Amalia,” and he and Penelo are always eager to oblige. Usually they acted as couriers, transporting messages to far sides of the world without drawing the sort of attention that Ashe would rather avoid. This time, the mark was for a band of Bangaa thieves, or rather for their loot. The chase took them deep into the Estersand and ended only when they managed to corner the thieves in a cliff side cave. Vaan hands Ashe their sandblasted leather satchel._

 _“You two have my thanks,” she says. “Dalmasca is safer for your service.”_

 _“Uh, what’s in the bag, anyway?” Vaan asks._

 _“You did not think to take a look?” Ashe’s voice is twinged with exasperation and she arches her eyebrows but he can’t quite tell if she’s angry or just surprised._

 _He shrugs. It was important to her, that’s all he needed to know._

 _Ashe purses her lips and takes a short breath. “My royal seal. With it, someone could legitimize any number of false documents.”_

 _“Wow, if you had us go after it, I guess that makes us more elite than the royal guards, huh?”_

 _Penelo elbows him in the side for that._

 _“In a manner of speaking,” Ash concedes. Something like a smile is creeping up the corners of her lips. “There are precious few people I can trust.”_

 _“You can always trust us, we’re your friends.”_

 _“I know. Unfortunately, there is not enough treasure in all of Dalmasca’s vaults to repay you for that.”_

 _“You wouldn’t ever have to,” Vaan says. She smiles honestly for that, something they have seldom ever seen from her, and he knows that he would have traveled all of Ivalice for that reward._

***

Vaan turns his gaze toward the sky and continues, halfway lost in memory. "A brother’s love. A knight’s confidence. A queen’s smile. An emperor’s secrets. A partner’s loyalty. Watching the sun rise on an island that has no name. Freedom. These are a sky pirate’s treasures, boy.”

The kid sneers at him. He’s skinny, disheveled and covered in grime, as poor as Vaan used to be—and still is, depending on the week. “That’s dumb! How am I supposed to get that!?”

“How about some pirate’s advice?” Vaan offers. “It can be your first treasure.”

“What,” the kid asks, crossing his arms.

Vaan looks him in the eye. “Whatever you do, keep your head in the clouds.”

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt was: "Vaan. I would love anything that can take him seriously, especially if it shows how he grows as a person. It could explore his life before, during, or after game. (If it were AU, I would prefer it to still be set in Ivalice). As far as relationships (romantic or otherwise), I'd prefer something with Penelo, Ashe, Larsa, or Basch."
> 
> My apologies for going somewhere weird with it, and for not including Larsa or Penelo. When I did it started to turn into a Penelo/Larsa fic.


End file.
